As students at Boston University gear up for a new semester, they must begin the process of ordering all of their new books. Luckily for us, ordering books is as easy as going to the studentlink and ordering your books online through Barnes and Noble to pick up a day or two before classes…or is it?
My first semester freshman year, I had missed the deadline for ordering books online at the Barnes and Noble website. After being extremely nervous, I discovered that with the help of a representative on the fourth floor of Barnes and Noble, I was able to pick out all of my books without any trouble. Since I went early, there were no long lines or mobs of people running around. Being one of many poor college students, I knew I definitely wanted to purchase everything used. I was really satisfied with my used books, because I got to preview them beforehand to make sure they were in good condition. The mistake came my second semester, when I decided it would be easier to order online and have everything come pre-packaged.
Being the perfectionist that I am, I always double check things to make sure they’re accurate. Therefore, after looking over book titles and checking off my list of books inside the box Barnes and Noble put together for me, I was sure this was the easiest way of getting books. It wasn’t until I started my classes that I recognized my mistake. While most of the books were correct, there were two or three that were a different edition, therefore giving me different page numbers than the rest of the class. I would assume that this would not be as much of a problem for textbooks, but, being an English major and having around ten novels per English class, I found it to be a huge problem. This setback made it very difficult to participate in classroom discussion; the professor would point out a paragraph in a novel, and I would be unable to follow along. I thought, maybe I just got unlucky. Probably just a fluke and someone wasn’t paying attention when putting my books together. No.
Another semester went by, and the same thing happened. You’d think I would have looked over the books more carefully when I got them, but if you get them pre-ordered, there are people in line behind you trying to hurry you along, leaving you minimal time to check over your order. Therefore, I merely did the same thing I did last time: checked to make sure I had all of my books, and left. Throughout that semester, I encountered the same dissatisfaction as the previous: my books were incorrect. Barnes and Noble screwed me over again.
Next time you want to try and take the easy way out, think of this. After these two incidents, I have been going into Barnes and Noble and picking my books up by hand instead of ordering online. Everything is nicely labeled by class on the fourth floor, and if you need help, there are always people around to help you. Since I have been picking out my books by hand, I have never had any problems with editions or getting poor quality books.
Look, if you can avoid Barnes and Noble to begin with and get books through other Boston University students first, I would go for that simply because of prices. There is a nice facebook group “BU Students Selling BU books for BU courses” that I try to use, and it’s great. If you do choose to go through Barnes and Noble, do yourself a favor and check over your books VERY carefully. The Barnes and Noble return policy sucks—don’t get stuck paying for incorrect books.
Or used from amazon or half.com- great way to save even more without the hassle of finding other students for every book. . .